From 1st January 2007, Company Law requires UK Limited Companies to show on their website and e-mails the standard statutory information which should be shown on the bottom of every Limited Companys headed notepaper:

The address of their Registered Office

The Company registration number

Place of registration (e.g. the company is registered in England and Wales)

This information needs to be shown on all business e-mails and therefore it is recommended that Limited Companies show it as part of their standard e-mail footer.

For websites this information does not need to appear on every page. It could be shown on the front page or perhaps on the about us or legal info pages.

Under the UK E-Commerce regulations the minimum information that must be shown on any Limited Company's website is as follows:

The name, geographic address and e-mail address of the service provider

The name of the organisation with which the company is contracting must be given so if the company is operating under a trade name details must be shown e.g. XYZ is the trading name of ABC Limited

Registered Office (see above)

Registration number and the place of registration (see above)

If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details including any registration number

If the business is registered for VAT the number should be shown.

Prices given should make clear whether they are inclusive or exclusive of VAT (and delivery costs).

I reckon this is the same as 'inc' in the US but not sure. Anyone got a clearer idea? Can a US 'inc' company be privately owned?

In the UK it means that you have shareholders (these can be privately or publically owned) and the company has limited liabiity. This means that the Directors are not personally liable for the debts of the company etc. In terms of size there are no restrictions - it can be a one person company upwards with no upper limits (as far as I know).

For small companies the benefits are that they look 'professional' and they have limited liability but there is a bunch of admin and finacial stuff that needs to be done to meet the requirements. I guess this is the 'pay back'.

But I am no expert in this so just sharing my views - hopefully others will come back with more information.

If you need to update your email so that you comply I suggest you look at

www.tvxm.co.uk who have digital stationary which helps market your company and also has the correct information on to satisfy this legislation. Send me a PM and I will give you details.

As regards Limited Companies the legislation is getting tougher for Freelancers and Contractors who try and operate as Limited Companies and also for the companies that use freelancers. If the Freelancer operating as a Limited company is not conforming with the correct legislation , then in certain circumstances the Revenue can make claim against the Company who has employed the Freelancer's company. This is forcing many Companies to make nay freelancer they want to take on contract go through Organisations such as Blue Intellect who will then make sure the Freelancer/Contractor comply with legislation and pay the correct tax based on a "deemed salary" basis. Companies like Blue Intellect then protect the Recruitment Agency, Freelancer and Contracting Client as well as creating the situation where agencies margins can be improved, Freelancer/Coontractor can earn more .

As an HR manager checking this out can be a headache. Particularly if the individual once worked for you. The advent of companies such as BlueIntellect offers a real alternative to employers. I remember the days of having to persuade my temp agency to payroll someone for me and the tightening of legislation has only continued.